The Mystery Murderer
by thequeenxofhearts
Summary: The gang attempt to solve a 25-year-old murder, but it seems to reveal more mysteries. Rated M to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Amherst, New York

Late at night, along a dark street stood an abandoned house. The other houses surrounding it have families living in them, but this house hadn't been lived in for over twenty years; which made it the perfect place for teenagers to sneak in and play pranks on each other and tell scary stories.

And other things.

"Tommy!" The girl gasped, pinned against the wall as her boyfriend kissing her neck, he chuckled at her reaction. "Should we even be in here?" She asked. "It's fine Rachel." He said, he looked up into her eyes, "Nobody's seen _her_ in years." He said, darkly. "Seen who?" Rachel asked. "The ghost." Tommy teased; Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Thomas, there are no such things as ghosts!" She said stubbornly.

"There is," Tommy began, "And she's in this house; the ghost of Emma Henderson." He said, Rachel shook her head, "Emma Henderson?" She asked, not buying Tommy's 'scary' ghost story at all.

"Her husband murdered her and hid her body somewhere in this house. Emma's ghost has been haunting this house ever since…. BOO!" He exclaimed, Rachel screamed, she slapped Tommy's shoulder, "That's not funny Tommy!" She exclaimed

"It was a little bit funny." He said, lowering his lips down to her neck. Rachel closed her eyes, relishing the feeling.

She shivered, not because of Tommy but something else. She had the strangest feeling that she was being watched, like there was another presence in the room with them, and her hands suddenly became colder and colder.

Rachel slowly opened her eyes; "Tommy, Tommy!" She exclaimed, slapping his arm and he pulled away. "What?" He asked, then he turned to see what Rachel was looking at.

A woman was standing behind them.

"What do you want? Can't you see we're busy here?" Tommy asked, annoyed at the disturbance.

"Tommy." Rachel whispered, nervously, "Look." She said.

They could see the wall on the other side of the room, through the woman's pale figure. "Help me." She said in an eerie whisper, which sent shivers down the spines of the two terrified teens.

Tommy grabbed Rachel's hand and they ran out of the house.

* * *

Buffalo, New York – 2 days later

"I'm sorry Daph, I've done everything I can." The mechanic said, "It can't be fixed."

Daphne ran her hand through her hair, she looked at her red BMW Z4, which her first car. She bought it after she passed her driving test nearly 8 years ago, but it just wasn't safe to drive anymore.

Daphne's car had been making strange noises for the last few weeks, on top of all the other problems it had; sometimes it wouldn't start, it once had an oil leak and the bulbs needed changing more often than they should.

Fred had been trying to convince Daphne to get a new car for weeks, she insisted that it was fine, but deep down, she knew it wasn't.

She agreed to take it to Fred's cousin Jack, who was a mechanic, hoping he could fix it.

Fred felt bad for Daphne, though he knew he was right about her needing a new car, he couldn't imagine any other van replacing the Mystery Machine.

"Thanks for your help, Jack." Fred said.

"I'll buy it." Jack said, wiping his oily hands on a rag, "I have a buddy who'll take it and recycle some of the parts." He said. "How much will you take it for?" Fred asked. "You said you bought it second hand?" Jack asked, Daphne nodded.

Jack looked at the car, "I'll buy it for $3000." He said.

Daphne thought about it; it was an old car with a few problems, and she did buy it second hand. What were the chances that anyone else would take it for this much?

"Alright." She said, Jack smiled, and he wrote Daphne a $3000 cheque. Daphne gave him the keys and she and Fred climbed into the Mystery Machine.

"I need to look for a new car." She said. "I know, I've been telling you that for months." Fred said, teasingly. "Yes, ok you were right." She said, Fred laughed. "I always am." He said, Daphne rolled her eyes.

"But we're getting married and I don't want to spend loads of money on a car and have nothing left for our wedding." She said, Fred took her hand. "I know, but we haven't set a date yet." He said.

"I know." She said, then she smiled "We should probably pick a date soon; your mom wants to start planning the wedding." She said. "I'm sure she does." He smiled.

The Mystery Machine pulled into the parking space outside their office.

Shaggy and Scooby were deciding what to get for lunch; they usually go to Subway across the road, but a new burger bar just opened down the street.

"Like, why don't we just get both, Scoob." Shaggy said. "Good idea!" Scooby exclaimed.

Daphne and Fred stepped into the office, "How did it go at the mechanic?" Shaggy asked. "I don't have a car anymore." Daphne said, hanging her coat on the hook. "That bad, huh?" Shaggy asked. "Yep." Daphne said, she and Fred sat on the couch.

"We're going t'get some lunch, you guys hungry?" Shaggy asked.

The door opened and the two teenagers stepped into the office. "We need your help." Tommy said. "What is it?" Shaggy asked, "Are you guys ok?"

"We've seen a ghost!" Rachel exclaimed, the gang exchanged looks, "We went to the police, but they don't believe us."

"Why are you coming to us and not a 'ghost' specialist?" Velma asked, standing from her desk. "We know you guys were into this kind of thing before you became detectives." Tommy said. "And, we think it might have something to do with a murder." Rachel said, "Tommy was telling a ghost story in an old house the other night, it was about a woman who was murdered by her husband and buried in the house." She said. "We think we saw the woman, she said 'help me'."

"Thanks for letting us know guys, we'll look into it." Daphne said. Rachel pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and scribbled her phone number onto it, giving it to Daphne, then she and Tommy left.

"Are we actually going to believe this?" Velma asked, "Ghosts aren't real."

Daphne picked up the phone and dialled the police station downtown.

"Velma, like how can you say ghosts aren't real?" Shaggy asked, "We've dealt with cat-creatures, aliens, the Loch Ness Monster, witches and even like, the _ghost _of a witch." He said.

"I just spoke to an officer at the station," Daphne said, "Tommy and Rachel did go down there and report a ghost in an old house, and they went to the police station in Amherst. Obviously, the police didn't believe them, and they were told that if they came back with another nonsense story, they'd be arrested."

Fred grabbed his laptop and began a search into the history of the house, "Hey, they weren't wrong about the murder." He said, the gang gathered around him. "A woman named Emma Henderson was murdered by her ex-husband Anthony Grayson back in 1994." Fred said, "But her body was never found."

"Search for Anthony Grayson." Velma said, Fred began typing as Velma hurried over to the whiteboard and wrote **EMMA HENDERSON** in a thick whiteboard pen and drew a circle around it.

"On January 14th, 1994, Anthony Grayson was arrested for domestic violence offenses against his wife, Emma Grayson. Emma chose not to press charges but instead filed a restraining order and a divorce." Fred read; Velma quickly scribbled on the board. "On January 23rd, 1994, the divorce was final, Emma Henderson had full ownership of the house and Grayson stayed in a hotel a few blocks from his work."

"On February 1st, 1994, a missing person's report was filed by one of Emma Henderson's colleagues after she failed to turn up to work for three days." Fred said.

"The police searched Emma's house, there was no sign of a break in but clearly evidence of a struggle inside the house and spots of blood." Fred said, scrolling through the page as Velma scribbled on the whiteboard.

"The police sent in cadaver dogs who picked up the scent of decomposition, the blood that they'd found in the house belonged to Emma and they were certain that she had died in the house. Grayson claims he did not kill Emma and he doesn't know where her body is. Her body is still missing."

"So, Emma died in the house." Shaggy said, "But if there was no sign of a break in then someone like, had t'be in the house with her or had a key." He said.

"Yes, the detectives interrogated Anthony Grayson who said Emma had taken his key after he was arrested, but they didn't believe him they said that they had no proof that Emma had taken the key so Grayson could have disposed of it." Fred said.

"But there are no other suspects?" Daphne asked, leaning over Fred's shoulder to read the document, Fred shook his head.

"Until Emma's body is found, the case remains open." Fred said.

"Ok, I must agree, that it is an interesting case, and maybe we should investigate." Velma said, "Is there a picture of Emma?" She asked.

"Yes." Fred says, Velma went back to the gang and looked at the laptop; Emma had long, dark hair and dark eyes, with a gentle smile. She was tall and slim.

"What happened to the house when Grayson was sentenced?" Velma asked. "It's been up for sale once, but it's been named 'The Murder House' and nobody will buy it, so it's been vacant since 1994." Fred said.

"Emma's sister Maria lives in Castile, it's only an hour away." Velma said. "Ok, Daph and I will speak to her, have you got her address?" Fred asked, Velma nodded and scribbled it onto a piece of paper from her notepad.

Daphne picked up her notepad, then she and Fred headed for Castile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Fred and Daphne were on their way to Castile and Shaggy, Scooby and Velma stayed behind to do some more research; after Shaggy and Scooby went across to Subway to get some sandwiches.

They sat around Velma's laptop watching some videos from the courthouse during Grayson's trial. At college, Shaggy studied criminal behaviour, and whilst they were watching the footage, he noticed no change in Grayson's behaviour.

"Like, I don't think he did it." Shaggy said, "I mean, all the evidence links him t'the murder, but listen t'what he's sayin', 'I did not kill Emma.' As in _he_ didn't do it." He said.

"Hmm. I see what you mean; he might have had someone else do it." Velma said, Shaggy nodded. "Or he was aware it was happening and chose not t'do anythin' about it." He said.

Velma grabbed her laptop and began to do some more research. "I found a statement from Emma's colleague, Tracey Winston, she said that Emma missed several days of work, and when she came back it was clear that she'd tried to cover a black eye with make-up, and she'd had a broken hand, but Emma said she fell." Velma said.

"It always makes me wonder, if someone knows someone is in trouble, why don't they do anythin' about it?" Shaggy asked. "Some people are scared to get involved in case it ends badly for the other person." Velma said, "My aunt's friend was going through a similar thing."

"How did it end?" Shaggy asked. "Her friend had enough so she called the police, got him charged and had a restraining order against him." Velma said.

"What about this house?" Shaggy asked, pulling up a picture of the Murder House. "Rooky." Scooby said, hiding under the table with his Subway sandwich.

"I think it just looks spooky because it's got such a creepy name." Velma said. "Yeah, but you ever watch that show and those people went into that house, which was also called the Murder House, and they were being followed by a ghost." Shaggy said, Velma shook her head. "There is no such thing as ghosts, Shaggy." She said.

"Then like, what d'you think those kids saw?" Shaggy asked. "There's your answer Shaggy, they're just two teenagers, probably pulling a prank, or both high or drunk and hallucinated." Velma said, Scooby sighed in relief, "No rhosts." He said.

"No Scooby, there are no ghosts." Velma said.

"Like, how can you say that Velma? After all the crazy stuff we've gone through." Shaggy said. "Mr and Mrs Clifford were crazy murderers, Vlad Bloodwood was just a lucky to have created the Elixir of Life, and Laura's time machine was science." Velma said.

"Funny, like I didn't hear you mention Caitlin the cat-creature and her mother Lena the 200-year-old cat-creature, and the aliens and the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft." Shaggy said.

Velma sighed. "Let's just get on with this case." She said.

The journey from Buffalo to Castile would take over an hour, so Daphne used the time to look for a new car. "Freddie." She said, "When we're married, are we going to have kids" She asked. Fred looked at her quickly, before he looked back at the road.

"Probably, why?" He asked. "I'm just thinking, do we start looking for a car now, you know like a family car?" She asked, her cheeks turning pink.

"I wanted to talk to you about that." He said. "What?" She asked. "I was going to suggest to the others that we split the Mystery Machine and keep it parked at the office and then we get a family car." He said.

"How long have you been thinking about that?" She asked. "It's just been on my mind or a while." He said. "Ok, we don't have to talk about this now, we can talk about it after we're married." She said.

Fred smiled, "Of course."

Finally, they arrived in Castile, Fred pulled up outside a small blue house.

Daphne knocked on the front door, a woman in her 40's answered, Daphne and Fred noticed that she had similar facial features to Emma. "Hello, are you Maria?" Daphne asked, she and Fred showed her their badges, the woman nodded, "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes." Daphne said, "I'm Detective Blake and this is my partner Detective Jones, we're reinvestigating the murder case of your sister, Emma Henderson." She said.

"Why?" Maria asked.

"We know that Emma's body is still missing so the case is still open, and we'd like to try and find out what happened to Emma. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" Daphne asked.

"Not at all. Come in." Maria said, she held the door open and allowed Daphne and Fred into her house.

They sat in the living room, "Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked. "No thank you." They both said.

"So, what would you like to know?" Maria asked. "What can you tell us about Emma's relationship with Anthony Grayson?" Daphne asked, Fred got his notepad out.

"Emma and I used to live in Long Island with our parents, that's where she met Anthony in May 1991." Maria said. "She was only 18 when she met him, but she really liked him, and he was all she talked about."

Maria sighed, "We never really saw him that much, but he was really polite to my parents, we had him over for dinner once, mom and dad seemed to approve of him. Anthony said he was working at Wal-Mart, but he was hoping his photography career would take off because he wanted to be a travel photographer."

"We didn't see him after that, but Emma was still seeing him. Then one day they announced that they were moving to Amherst together. Mom was mad, Emma had only been with Anthony for three months, but she didn't care, and she left with Anthony anyway." Maria said. "I'm two-years older than Emma, so I was 21 when she moved out, and my boyfriend and I were getting our own place together, but only a few blocks away from our parents house." She said.

"I thought something was going on, it was just before she moved, she seemed nervous about something, like she didn't want to go, but she did." Maria said.

"She called me when she got to Amherst, but she didn't really say anything, like it wasn't a big deal. And she only ever called me on Wednesdays at certain times, she said it was because they were doing work on the power lines and they'd start late on a Wednesday. I didn't believe that story." Maria said, "I knew something was going on."

"What do you mean?" Daphne asked. "I can't describe it; it was like she was sad about something, but she tried to hide it, like she didn't want me to know." Maria said, "I felt really bad for Emma, she didn't have any friends in Amherst, it was so far away from Long Island. She told me she was working at a desk at a car dealership, but she didn't say which one it was." Maria said.

"Did you ever see Emma after she moved to Amherst?" Daphne asked, Maria shook her head. "I think I was the only person she ever called, I saw her best friend Annie and she asked if I'd spoken to Emma, she was upset that Emma hadn't called her, but I always had the feeling that Emma was trying to tell me something."

Fred wrote Annie's name on the notepad.

"My sister left in 1991, she didn't come home for Christmases, but she said she and Anthony were going away for Christmas. She sent us cards on our Birthday's, but she didn't say anything about what was happening in Amherst or where they were living or where she worked." She said. "I often asked if she'd want to meet up halfway, I even offered to go to Amherst, but she said she was always busy."

"You didn't see Emma since 1991?" Daphne asked, Maria shook her head.

"Then in June 1992, during one of our weekly phone calls she announced, quite randomly, that she and Anthony got married a few days earlier." Maria said.

"Really?" Fred asked, "She didn't tell you in any of the other phone calls that they even thought about getting married?"

Maria shook her head, "No. It was like they just woke up one morning and decided to get married." Maria shrugged.

"Where did they get married?" Daphne asked.

"In a registry office, her colleague and his friend were the witnesses to the wedding, and the only guests." She sighed. "My boyfriend proposed to me just before Emma left Long Island, we talked about the small things, like what flowers I'd have, and she begged Steven to let her pick the song for our first dance." Maria smiled, "But when I called her to tell her that we'd set a date for the wedding, she said she wasn't coming because she and Anthony were going to Hawaii for photography."

"Did you believe it?" Fred asked, Maria shook her head.

"I met Steven when I was 17, Emma was 15, my dad really liked Steven and he said he'd approve of him as my husband. From then on, Emma and I always talked about our dream wedding, and we both promised we'd be each other's maid-of-honour." Maria said, her eyes filled with tears. "I had Steven's sisters as my bridesmaids and his brother was his best man, it wasn't my dream wedding, we got married in a registry office too." She said, wiping her eyes, "My dream wedding was for my sister to be there, and she wasn't. I knew something was definitely wrong."

"We had been talking to each other over the phone every Wednesday for the last three years, but in January 1994, she told me that the last few months Anthony had been beating her and she had him arrested on domestic violence charges and she was divorcing him." Maria said, "But she later admitted that he had been beating her since 1992 and that was one of the reasons why they got married."

"Control." Fred said, Maria nodded.

"Was that the last time you spoke to her?" Fred asked, Maria nodded. "She said she'd stay in Amherst to get the divorce finalised and to sort out her stuff and sell the house, then she'd be back to Long Island, but she didn't call me after that, and I didn't know she was missing until I saw it on the news a few days later." She said.

"I called the police and told them she was my sister and they told me everything they knew, but all the evidence pointed to Anthony." She said, she began to cry, "Then they called me and said that they found evidence that Emma had died in the house, but they couldn't find her body." She wiped her eyes.

Daphne held her hand. "I'm so sorry." She said, Maria squeezed Daphne's hand.

"After Anthony's trial, my parents and I cleared out Emma's house, we burned Anthony's clothes, his parents weren't at the trial and nobody mentioned them, so we burned his personal items too. We sent Emma's clothes to charity; we sold their furniture, but we kept some sentimental stuff. Then Steven and I moved here, and my parents moved to California. My dad is in the nursing home, my mom died a few years ago."

"What did you keep of Emma's?" Daphne asked. "Erm…Her favourite necklace, it was weird that she wasn't wearing it but maybe Anthony didn't like it." Maria said, saying his name with gritted teeth, "I kept her prom dress and her diary." Maria said.

"Have you read her diary?" Daphne asked, Maria shook her head, "If she wrote about the stuff that Anthony did to her, I just couldn't bring myself to read it." She said.

"Do you mind if we have a look at it?" Daphne asked, "We'll make sure you get it back, it might help us find Emma." She said, Maria took a deep breath then she nodded. "I'll go and get it." She said.

She ran upstairs and returned a few seconds later with a little red diary. "My grandmother got us these when we were ten, I wrote in mine all the time, but Emma hardly wrote in hers." Maria smiled, "Typical Emma." She laughed a little bit, Daphne and Fred smiled.

"We promise we'll get it back to you." Daphne said. "Thank you." Maria said, quickly hugging Daphne and shaking Fred's hand.

"Do you think you can find Emma?" Maria asked, Daphne nodded, "We'll do everything we can." She said, Maria smiled.

Velma had requested copies of Anthony's police interrogation from when Emma disappeared and when police announced that Emma had been murdered.

Shaggy and Scooby were looking through old newspaper articles, hoping to find something that doesn't link Anthony to Emma's disappearance and death, but nothing so far.

"How did it go with Emma's sister?" Velma asked as Daphne and Fred walked into the office. "Ok." Daphne said. "She said that Emma left her parents home in May 1991, that was the last time she saw her. But she let us borrow Emma's diary, hopefully we can find out some more evidence." She said, she sat at the desk, Fred and the others watched the interrogation tapes that Amherst Police Department sent via e-mail.

Daphne started from the beginning of the diary, promising to keep Emma's diary intact, she wrote notes of her notepad, but she didn't start writing anything until she got to 1991, when she first met Anthony Grayson.

"Daphne." Fred said, bringing her out of her study, only he and Daphne were in the office, "Where are the others?" Daphne asked. "They went home about 30 minutes ago." Fred said, "I organised a few things while you were working, but it's getting late and we need to go home now." He said.

"Freddie, I think this diary can really help the case, I'm nearly towards Emma's last entries." Daphne said, but Fred shook his head, "No, you can finish it tomorrow, we need to go home now." He said.

Daphne sighed, she knew there was no arguing with Fred when he was tired, she closed the diary and locked in the desk draw with her notepad.

She and Fred returned home.

Daphne laid in bed staring at the ceiling, "If you'd just let me finish it off, I could have probably figured out what had happened to Emma." Daphne said.

Fred sighed as he climbed into bed, "Probably." He said, "But you might not have." He wrapped his arm around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, "When we're home it's _our_ time, that's why we bought the office remember, because we had all our paperwork spread out over the table." He said.

"I know, baby but I just feel so off about this case." She said. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I don't know Freddie; something just doesn't feel right." She sighed.

"Forget about it for tonight," He said, turning the lamp on the bedside cabinet off, and then pulling the sheets over him and Daphne.

He pressed his lips gently to her cheek, "Think about our wedding." He whispered softly, Daphne smiled, "I always do." She said.

"I can't wait to marry you." He said sweetly. "Neither can I." She smiled and gently kissed his soft lips before settling next to him.

Daphne watched Fred as he fell asleep, "When we have kids, I hope they sleep as well as you do." She whispered.

Daphne tried to sleep, but she just couldn't. She tried thinking about the wedding, but something kept pulling her mind to the case; mainly Emma. For some reason, when she thought about the case, she kept thinking of three people; the victim, Emma, the killer Anthony, and a third person, it played on her mind all night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Fred's hand slid across the mattress, he groaned when he realised Daphne wasn't there. He opened his eyes, it was bright outside, he looked at the clock on the bedside cabinet, 7:00AM.

He sat up and found a note on her pillow; "_Morning baby, I'm at the office, sorry I left early but I think I'm on to something. Love you xx_"

Fred sighed, he climbed out of bed and went to the kitchen for some breakfast.

Daphne had a pot of coffee ready for him, and his favourite mug sat next to the coffee. She'd also made his breakfast and all he had to do was heat it up. Fred smiled, she was always looking after him, even when she wasn't home.

Fred parked the Mystery Machine in its usual space at the office, he saw Daphne through the window.

"Morning beautiful." He smiled as he stepped into the office, she looked up from her notepad and smiled at him, "Morning, enjoy your breakfast?" She asked. "Yes, thank you, but I would have liked it much better if you were there when I woke up." He said as he kissed her cheek.

"I know, I'm sorry." She said. "I couldn't stop thinking about it all night Freddie, and I think I'm actually on to something now." She said.

"Really?" Fred asked, he grabbed a chair and sat next to her, she nodded. "What time did you get here?" He asked. "Five o'clock." She said. "It's nearly eight o'clock, Daph." He said.

"I know." She said, "But look, after Emma split up with Anthony and the divorce was final, she started to show interest in a man by the name of John Gregory." Daphne said, "She said, she went on a date with him on January 21st and she was reported missing on January 23rd."

Fred's eyes widened, he looked at Daphne's notes over her shoulder, "Oh my god Daphne!" He exclaimed, "You were right!"

"Nobody by the name of John Gregory was ever questioned about Emma's disappearance or murder, I checked." She said.

"Alright." He said, then he took a deep breath, "I think we should check out that old house." He said.

"Why?" Daphne asked, "Want to speak to Emma's ghost." She joked, Fred laughed awkwardly, "Well if those teenagers did see a ghost, then maybe we should speak to her. Shaggy's right, we've dealt with the ghost of a witch before, I'm sure the ghost of Emma Henderson won't be scary." He said.

"_But_ those teenagers could have been hallucinating, or drunk or high." Daphne said, Fred sighed, "Daph it's worth a shot." He said.

"Alright." She sighed.

* * *

The gang climbed out of the Mystery Machine, which was parked outside the Murder House.

Shaggy looked at the houses surrounding the Murder House; they were all painted different colours, with picket fences and beautiful gardens. Then the Murder House was dark, with a rotted fence and a dead garden.

Shaggy and Scooby gulped, the gang climbed the front steps to the house which creaked eerily and then the front door slowly opened as if the house was letting the gang come into investigate.

The gang exchanged looks, then they stepped into the creepy old house.

Shaggy pulled a video recorder out of his pocket. "What is that? What are you doing?" Velma asked.

"Documentin' evidence." Shaggy said, Velma rolled her eyes. "Might help if we find anything that will link us to John Gregory." Daphne said, "I mean physical evidence, no a ghost." She added.

Shaggy turned the camera on and looked around the house. "You said we were looking for a ghost." Shaggy said. "No, I said it was Fred's idea." Daphne said, Velma sighed. "There are no such things as ghosts." She said.

But the room suddenly became colder and the gang shivered, "Zoinks! Like it suddenly got ghostly colder in here!" Shaggy exclaimed.

"There's no such things as ghosts." Velma sighed, rolling her eyes as she stepped into one of the rooms.

"Umm…" Fred said, "You might want to rethink that Velma." He said, from the hall, Velma stepped out to where the others were, her eyes widened when she saw the figure standing in front of them.

"Z-z-z-zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed, the video camera in his hand started playing up and then it turned off. "Like, this had a full battery." He said. "Doubt it Shaggy," Velma said, staring at the figure, "You probably forgot to charge it, and this," She pointed to the figure, "Is probably just a projection."

Daphne looked around, "From where Velma?" She asked.

"Help me." The figure said in an eerie voice. "Like, she looks like Emma, from the picture we saw." Shaggy said, nervously. "You're right." Fred said, "So am I about the ghost." He said, elbowing Daphne, she looked at him, "Is now really the time to gloat?" She asked. "Probably not." He muttered.

"Are you…is your name Emma Henderson?" Daphne asked, the figure nodded slowly, Velma studied the figure. "Zoinks." Shaggy gasped. "What happened to you?" Daphne asked gently, the figure quickly locked eyes with her.

Daphne was suddenly alone in a field; she could see lights in the distance, but it was a walk away from the field. She looked at her surroundings, but the field was empty, suddenly the figure appeared in front of her. "Where am I?" Daphne asked.

"Help me." The figure said.

"How? Why have you brought me here?" Daphne asked.

"Help me." The figure said again. Her arm rose and she pointed to something behind Daphne. A chill ran down Daphne's spine; what would she see when she turned around?

She gulped, and slowly looked behind her; she saw a man, well she thought it was a man, walking away from her with a shovel, he was wearing black jeans and a navy-blue sweater with the hood pulled over his head. "Hey!" Daphne shouted, but the man carried on walking, "Hey!" Daphne exclaimed again, but the man still carried on walking.

Daphne looked at the figure who watched the man walk away. "Emma?" Daphne asked, the figure looked at her. "Where are we?" Daphne asked.

"Memory." The figure said, she pointed to a sigh that appeared out of nowhere. "What?" Daphne asked. "Memory." The figure said again, Daphne looked at the sign; PETERSON & JACKSON REALTORS – SOLD

"Is this 1994?" Daphne asked, the figure nodded.

Daphne was suddenly alone, not in a field, but in a total darkness. She blinked and she was back in the house with the gang.

"Daphne!" Fred exclaimed; Daphne realised she was lying on the floor. "Are you ok?" Fred asked, helping her stand up. "You blacked out." Fred said. "What?" Daphne asked, "No I didn't." She said.

"You did." Velma said, "'Emma' looked at you and then you collapsed."

Daphne looked around, "What's wrong?" Fred asked. "I don't think I blacked out." Daphne said, "I don't know what happened, but Emma took me to a field." She said, Fred shook his head, "Daphne you've been here the whole time." Fred said. "No, not physically." Daphne said, she tapped her head.

Velma sighed, "Emma was in your brain?" She asked, getting fed up of this ghost nonsense, Daphne shook her head, "No, she took her to her memory." She said, the gang looked at her confused. "I think you hit your head, Daphne." Fred said.

"No, I didn't!" Daphne exclaimed. "We were in a field, I saw a man, I think it was a man he was wearing black jeans and a navy-blue sweater, I didn't see his face though. Then I saw a sign it said…Peterson and Jackson Realtors." She said.

"Hmm…" Velma said, "Peterson and Jackson…they specialise in selling land to businesses, like the owner of Perry Pals Fun Park in California." Velma said. "That was a fun day." Shaggy said.

"Where was this field?" Fred asked. "I don't know, but I saw some lights in the distance." Daphne said.

"There's a Peterson n' Jackson Realtor office, like not that far from here." Shaggy said looking at his phone, "Hey, my camera works too!" He exclaimed.

Velma rolled her eyes, "Come on let's go." She said, the gang stepped out of the house and climbed into the Mystery Machine.

Daphne looked at the house before they drove away, in the upstairs window she saw Emma staring at them, and Daphne could hear Emma's voice like a whisper; "Help me."

Emma disappeared from the window and the Mystery Machine pulled away from the house.

* * *

"Mr Russell, we'd like to ask you a few questions." Velma said, the gang sat at the desk with Mr Russell, the current manager of the Peterson & Jackson office just outside Amherst.

"Ask away." He said. Mr Russell was happy to help…after the gang showed him their badges.

"Back in 1994, a woman named Emma Henderson was reported missing, the police later discovered that she died in her home in Amherst." Fred said. "Ms Henderson's body was never found but through a new investigation we have reason to believe that her body might have been buried on some land that Peterson and Jackson Realtors sold in 1994."

Mr Russell sat thinking for a minute, "I remember hearing her disappearance in the news, I was 16." He said, the gang sighed, Mr Russell wouldn't have worked here when at the time.

"Unfortunately, the manager at that time died of cancer a few years ago." Mr Russell said, "But we still have the records of all of our sales since 1967." He said.

The gang sighed with relief, hopefully this will be what they've been hoping for.

"Do you know where this land is?" Mr Russell asked, "You said she was killed in Amherst."

"We don't know where this land is, but we think it might be near Amherst." Daphne said, Mr Russell nodded.

He went onto his laptop and looked into the records from 1994, his eyes widened, he turned the laptop around and showed the gang what he had found, "In December 1993, a couple by the name of Wickers, purchased some land to build a farm." Mr Russell said, using his pen his pointed to the information on the screen.

"We removed the sale sign at the beginning of February 1994." Mr Russell said, "The Wickers' started construction in March." He said.

The gang exchanged looks, they thanked Mr Russell for helping them and they went back to the Mystery Machine.

Velma got her laptop and searched the Wickers' farm. "The farm is just a few miles away." She said. "Out of town?" Daphne asked, Velma nodded. "It's up in the hills." She said.

"Let's go." Fred said.

* * *

Daphne recognised the area when she climbed out of the Mystery Machine, she looked back at the town. "This is it." She said.

The Wickers' farm stood where Daphne had been in the field in Emma's memory, now they had to break the news to the Wickers that there's a possibility that a body could be under their farm.

"Hello, can I help you?" A man asked, he had a round belly, he wore a red lumberjack shirt, blue working jeans and boots, and he had short dark hair. "Yes sir, we're detectives." Velma said as she and the gang showed him their badges, the man looked concern. "Are you the owner of this farm?" She asked, the man nodded.

"Yes, I'm George Wickers, my wife and I own this farm." He said, "Is there a problem?" He asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Fred said. "Mr Wickers, do you mind if we speak to you and your wife?" He asked.

"Of course, follow me." He said, he led the gang to a farmhouse. "This is my wife Jenny." Mr Wickers said. "George what's going on? Who are these people?" Mrs Wickers asked, she was wearing similar clothes to Mr Wickers, but she was skinner and had blonde hair. She was sat at the kitchen table, towel drying a piglet, and there was a little blonde girl, about 5-year-old, sat at the table, bottle feeding a lamb.

"Rosie, can you feed Lambert in the barn." Mr Wickers said. "Why?" She asked. "Rosie." Mrs Wickers said to her daughter. "Alright." The little girl stood up and carried the lamb outside, Mrs Wickers watched as her young daughter went to the barn.

"What's going on?" Mrs Wickers asked.

Fred took a deep breath, "We're investigating a missing person's case from 1994, Emma Henderson." He said.

"Oh, that poor girl. I remember hearing that in the news." Mrs Wickers said.

"The police believe that Emma Henderson was killed in her home, but to this day her body is still missing." Fred said. "We've found evidence that Emma's body could possibly have been buried on your land back in January 1994."

Mrs Wickers put her hand over her mouth, Mr Wickers looked confused, "What?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, we don't know who the killer is or why he did it but new information lead us to your farm." Daphne said.

The Wickers sighed, "How do you know for sure?" Mr Wickers asked.

Before any members of the gang could answer, there was a terrified scream of a child from outside, followed by a dog barking.

"Rosie!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The gang and the Wickers ran outside to where the scream came from, they went to the barn. "Mom!" A girl screamed, it wasn't Rosie who the gang had seen in the house, but an older girl. "Holly!" Mrs Wickers exclaimed, "What's going on?" She asked, her daughter ran into her arms, crying hysterically.

"What's the matter?" Mr Wickers asked, there were three other children in the barn, Rosie, another girl and a boy. There were also two sheep dogs in the barn.

"I don't know, Mom!" The older girl cried, "Rosie came in here and then Ace and King just started digging."

The two sheep dogs, who were instantly distracted when Scooby entered the barn, had been digging hole. The gang looked in the hole; they saw what looked like bones. "Oh my god." Daphne gasped.

"I'll call for back up." Shaggy said, he went outside to call the local police station.

"Kids, go inside." Mr Wickers said, the four children ran inside. "I'll sit with them." Mrs Wickers said, quickly following her children.

The two sheep dogs were trying to make friends with Scooby, who was sniffing around for clues,

"Ace, King!" Mrs Wickers exclaimed from the farmhouse; the two dogs raced to the house.

"Cops are on their way." Shaggy said, re-entering the barn.

"Oh my god!" Mr Wickers exclaimed, "All these years, a body's been here! My children grew up here!" He exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry Mr Wickers," Shaggy said, "Go inside an' be with your family an' we'll come an' speak t'you when the cops get here."

Mr Wickers nodded and he went back to his house.

It didn't take long for the police to arrive.

They did some more digging and recovered some more bones, then they carefully took the bones out of the hole and took them to the tent they set up to further examine the bones and put the skeleton together.

While the police were busy, the gang decided to speak to the Wickers children, Velma sat in the kitchen with Mr and Mrs Wickers and asked them questions about the farm and the land they purchased.

Fred and Daphne sat in the living room with Rosie and her brother Harry. Rosie had been in the kitchen bottle feeding a lamb before all the chaos unfolded.

"I'm sorry you guys saw something so scary." Daphne said, the two young siblings were holding hands, "Can you tell us what happened in the barn?" Daphne asked.

Harry nodded. "Rosie came in with Lambert, she said that there are important people in the house, and she had to come out here." Harry said.

"Rosie sat on the haybale with Holly and Lambert." He said, "Then Ace and King started digging, Holly told them to stop but they wouldn't listen." He said.

"They're not allowed to dig on the farm, Daddy said they used to dig when they were babies, and he's taught them not to." Rosie said.

"They carried on digging, and Holly went to stop them, but then we saw something in the ground." Harry said, "Rosie screamed and then mom, dad and you guys came out."

"Your dogs aren't allowed to dig?" Fred asked, Harry and Rosie shook their heads. "They just started doing it as soon as Rosie walked into the barn." Harry said.

"It's not my fault!" Rosie exclaimed as she burst into tears.

"We know it's not your fault, Rosie." Daphne said, gently, "Neither of you did anything wrong."

Rosie, with tears in her eyes, looked at Daphne for reassurance, Daphne smiled at her, "It's not your fault, sometimes dogs have these feelings and they just do things."

"Thank you for helping us." Daphne said.

"What's going to happen now?" Harry asked. "The police will be here for a while, but then they'll leave you alone and you can get back to looking after your farm animals." Fred said.

"We have a pig!" Rosie exclaimed, almost as if she'd forgotten about everything that had just happened. "Oh, do you?" Fred asked, Harry nodded. "And a cow, and a sheep, and a duck, and a horse and a chicken!" Rosie exclaimed.

"Wow!" Fred exclaimed, acting surprised, Daphne smiled at him, trying not to laugh.

In the dining room, Shaggy and Scooby sat with the Wickers other two children; Holly and Donna, who were holding hands.

"Why has this happened?" Donna asked. "I don't know." Shaggy said, "But we're going to find out."

"Who was that person?" Holly asked, Shaggy knew that Holly looked old enough to know that the body they'd found in the barn wasn't there by accident, but her younger sister Donna was still too young to understand.

Shaggy looked at Donna, Holly realised what he was thinking, "Never mind." She said, shaking her head.

"What happened in the barn?" Shaggy asked. "Holly, Harry and I were playing with Ace and King, our sheepdogs. Rosie came in with Lambert and she said mom and dad were speaking to "important people" so she had to go to the barn." Donna said.

Holly started crying, "I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to me, they started digging. The dug up the skeleton." She cried.

Donna looked at her older sister, "Are you here to find out why this happened?" Donna asked. "Yes, we are." Shaggy said.

"Can I pet your dog?" She asked. "Of course." Shaggy said, "Hey, he's a special dog. Ask him what his name is."

Donna looked at Shaggy suspiciously, but she didn't question it.

"Hello doggy, what's your name?" Donna asked, "My name is Donna." She said.

"Rello, my rame is Rcooby Roo." He said, Donna's eyes widened, Holly stared in shock. "A talking dog!" Donna exclaimed. "You're so lucky to have a talking dog!"

Holly looked at Shaggy, "It's a long story." He said, Holly smiled.

After speaking to the family, the gang gathered in the hall, they decided that it would be best for the family if they left the house for a few days, but they insisted that they needed to stay for their animals but they agreed to go out for a few hours so the police could carry out an investigation.

Daphne ran her hand through her hair, she looked at Fred and her eyes began to fill with tears, "We have to speak to Maria." She said, Fred nodded. "We'll speak to the police; I think they're about ready to take the body to the morgue." He said, Daphne nodded.

"I think we need to talk, gang." Velma said, the gang climbed into the Mystery Machine, but they all sat in the back, Velma holding some paper.

"So, let's just say for a second that ghosts are real." Velma began, the gang exchanged looks, "A ghost shows Daphne her memories and it leads us here." She said. "And like, maybe the ghost told the dogs t'dig where the bones buried." Shaggy said.

"The children said the dogs aren't allowed to dig; Mr Wickers doesn't let them." Fred said, "So, maybe."

"It's a possibility."

"If we're saying ghosts are real."

"That Emma led us to her body."

"Jinkies." Velma sighed.

"Ok, I say we go to the morgue and find out what we can about what happened to Emma." Fred said, climbing into the front seat and starting up the engine.

They drove back into town and went to the hospital where the bones were taken.

* * *

Daphne knocked on the front of the house she and Fred had visited only yesterday. Emma's diary clutched tightly in her other hand. Scooby came with them, because he wasn't allowed in the morgue.

Maria answered the door, "Oh hello, back so soon." She said, "Oh what a lovely dog! Come in." She said.

Daphne, Fred and Scooby sat in the living with Maria, like they did yesterday. Daphne gave Emma's diary back to Maria, "Did it help?" She asked, Daphne nodded.

"It led us to a farm in just outside Amherst." Daphne said, "Emma doesn't mention it, but she led us to some new evidence." She said.

"You found Emma?" Maria asked, Daphne nodded, Maria's eyes filled with tears, but a wave of relief washed over her. Scooby rested his head on Maria's knee.

"When Emma spoke to you, did she ever mention a man named John Gregory?" Daphne asked, Maria thought for a second, then shook her head.

"Why?" She asked.

"We think that John Gregory is the man who killed Emma." Fred said, Maria looked confused. "No, it's Anthony Grayson." She said.

"We've looked over the evidence collected by the police during Anthony's trial, and yes it does link him to the Emma's death, but he's insisting that he didn't kill her." Fred said. "But we won't know for sure until we find John Gregory."

"Who is he anyway? How does Emma know him?" Maria asked. "You'll have to read it yourself, it's the last few entries." Daphne said.

"Does…does Emma say what Anthony did to her?" Maria asked, Daphne nodded slowly, a chill ran down her spine as she recalled the stuff Emma wrote about.

Maria sighed, trying to hold back her tears. "Maria it's not your fault, nobody would blame you for not wanting to read the diary, trust me." Daphne said, Maria nodded.

"Where did you find Emma?" Maria asked.

"She was buried on some land in January 1994, a couple brought the land and began constructing a family farm, which was finished in 1997." Daphne said, "Their dogs were digging in the barn and they found Emma's body." Daphne said.

"Maria, we'd like to do a swab test, that way we can determine if it really is Emma." Fred said, Maria nodded.

Fred went out to the Mystery Machine and returned with a metal case and began a swab test on Maria.

* * *

The skeleton was set neatly onto the metal table in the coroner's room. Dr Bleu confirmed that all the bones were safely recovered from the site.

"There's no damage to the skull, so the victim didn't suffer trauma to the head." Dr Bleu said, "But I looked over the police report for Emma Henderson, and it said they found blood spots around the house, so it's a possibility that our victim was stabbed to death." He said.

Velma scribbled onto her notepad. "And take a look at her clothes." He said, he held up a woman's black top, which had holes in it. "I believe these were made by knife." He said.

"A knife?" Shaggy asked, the doctor nodded, he examined the holes in the top, "Ahh, but we are lucky." He said, Shaggy and Velma stared at him, "We can examine the top, our victim was wearing this when she was killed, maybe we can find some bloodstains and examine the DNA." The doctor said.

"Ok, like I'll call Fred and Daphne." Shaggy said, and he stepped out of the room to call Fred and Daphne.

"Dr Bleu." Velma began, "Can you use the bones to extract a DNA sample?" She asked. "They seem to be in good enough condition, but your partners insisted that they wanted the bones returned to the relatives, and intact." The doctor said.

"How long will it take for the DNA results to come through?" Velma asked. "I'll make sure these samples get sent off as priority, maybe a few hours, a day at the most." The doctor said, Shaggy re-entered the room.

"Daphne, Freddie and Scoob are like on their way over, they got a swab sample from Emma's sister." Shaggy said, the doctor nodded.

"It'll take a while to test the top for bloodstains, I'll call you when I've sent the samples off." The doctor said, Shaggy nodded.

Daphne and Fred arrived with the sample and they left the morgue and decided to return to Buffalo.

* * *

The gang sat around Velma, who was going through the police database looking for any evidence of John Gregory, but there was nothing in the police database, so they looked at hospital birth records, again nothing.

"What if John Gregory isn't his real name." Fred suggested, "What if it's an alias."

"You could be right." Velma said.

"Guys, I think I know who we should speak to." Daphne said. "We're not play ghost hunters again." Velma said.

"No." Daphne said, "We need to speak to Anthony Grayson, in prison." She said.

"Shaggy and I will speak to him." Fred said, "You three stay here, see if you can find anything else that might help us find 'John Gregory' or whoever killed Emma."

"Anthony Grayson is being held in a maximum-security facility in Auburn." Velma said. "We'll have to change." Shaggy said. "Yeah, you've got tomato sauce all over your shirt." Fred said, Velma rolled her eyes.

Fred and Shaggy quickly changed into the suits, which the gang kept in the office.

"Here," Daphne said, adjusting Fred's tie, "You look handsome." She said, sweetly. "Daph, we're just going to interview a prisoner." Fred said, but he couldn't help but smile at her, Daphne put his badge in his pocket and gave him his phone. "Call me when you get there." She said. "I promise." He said.

Fred and Shaggy went out to the Mystery Machine, of course they had to stop at the drive thru McDonald's on the way to the prison.

"Velma, I was just thinking." Daphne said, Scooby was curled up on the floor with a box of Scooby-Snax. "What?" Velma asked, looking at the laptop.

"Remember when we watched that TV show a few years ago, and they found that man's body, but they didn't know who it was?" Daphne asked, Velma looked up from the laptop. "Yes." She said.

"They named the man 'John Doe' until they found out who he was." Daphne said. "Yes?" Velma asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"Maybe Freddie is right, what if John Gregory is an alias, and he's hiding his identity, like a John Doe." Daphne suggested.

Velma thought for a minute, "It could be possible, but John Doe is what they call unidentified male bodies." She said.

"I know, but do you get what I mean?" Daphne asked, Velma nodded.

"So, what are we supposed to do, search the background of every male in the country?" Velma asked, Daphne rolled her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Anthony Grayson had thick black hair and piercing blue eyes. "What do you want?" He asked bitterly, he was handcuffed to the table with two guards standing either side of him, both with taser guns.

Shaggy and Fred sat opposite him, Shaggy had a notepad and had a voice recorder in his pocket. "We want to talk to you about Emma Henderson." Fred said.

"No." Anthony said, "What are you reporters?" He asked.

"Detectives." Fred said, "We found new evidence that suggests some else killed Emma." He said.

Anthony smiled bitterly, "Ever since she was reported missing, I told the police I had nothing to do with it, for twenty-five years nobody believed me. I did not kill Emma!" Anthony exclaimed.

"We know." Shaggy said, "We found her body this morning."

Anthony sighed, "The police said she was dead, but they never found her body."

"We'd like to ask you some questions about Emma." Fred said, Shaggy started taking notes.

"Don't bother, I'll tell you all you want to know." Anthony said, "I was a bastard to Emma, I beat her, and I know it was wrong, but I just couldn't stop. I think about it every day, in fact I can't stop thinking about it, I regret everything I ever did to her. I hear her screams and cries in my sleep, and I know that's my punishment." He said. "But I swear, I did not kill Emma."

"Do you know anyone by the name of John Gregory?" Fred asked, Anthony shook his head.

"Did you know Emma went on a date with him after she divorced you?" Fred asked.

"No." Anthony said.

"Is there anyone you know who might have shown any interest in Emma?" Fred asked.

Anthony sat in silence, thinking, "She only ever talked about Heather Stevens; her colleague, I think their desks were next to each other, or they shared a desk. Emma didn't know anyone in Amherst."

"There's definitely nobody you can think of?" Fred asked.

"No." Anthony said.

"Have you ever heard of Peterson and Jackson Realtors?" Fred asked. "I believe so." Anthony said, "Why?"

"A couple bought some land they were selling; they built a farm on the land which was where Emma's body was found." Fred said.

"On a farm?" Anthony asked. "Yes." Fred said.

"When?"

"They bought the land in 1993, they finished construction in 1994." Fred said, "We suspect that Emma was killed the same day she went on this date with John Gregory, and her body was buried before she was reported missing." Fred said.

Anthony slouched at the table, "I know I did some bad stuff to Emma, awful stuff. But I swear I didn't kill her, whoever did is still out there." He said.

Shaggy studied Anthony, then he looked at Fred.

"Do you know any of Emma's colleagues?" Fred asked. "Emma sometimes mentioned a woman called Heather Stevens; their desks were next to each other." Anthony said.

"Ok." Shaggy said, "Do you know where Heather lives in Amherst, like, if she still lives there?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it was far from the library." Anthony said.

"Thank you for speaking with us, Anthony." Fred said.

"Do you think you'll find him, John Gregory?" Anthony asked.

"We hope so." Fred said.

The two detectives stood from the table, and the guards dragged Anthony back to his cell.

* * *

It was late when Shaggy and Fred returned to Buffalo. Daphne, Velma and Scooby.

"Guys, I'm sure Anthony Grayson didn't do it." Shaggy said. "So am I." Fred said, taking his tie off and throwing it onto the couch.

Scooby was playing with a toy which he'd gotten in a McDonald's Happy Meal that Daphne bought him for his dinner.

"What did he say?" Daphne asked, Shaggy put the voice recorder on the table and played the recording from the interview with Anthony Grayson.

The gang listened to the recording, Velma took notes in case there was anything Shaggy and Fred might have missed.

"Heather Stevens?" Velma asked, she grabbed her laptop and began to search for Heather Stevens in Amherst hospital birth records. "Heather Stevens, born on April 23rd 1972 in Amherst, New York." Velma said.

"Oh guys, check this out!" Velma exclaimed; the gang gathered around Velma. "What?" Shaggy asked. "Look." Velma pointed at something on the screen.

"Heather Stevens worked at a Toyota car dealer in Amherst until 1995 when she began working as a trainee dental nurse. Heather married in 1995, she's Heather Preston now." Velma said.

* * *

The next day, the gang returned to Amherst, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma went to speak to Heather Preston; Velma emailed Amherst Toyota, who confirmed that Emma Henderson started for them in 1991.

Daphne and Fred went back to the morgue to find out the results of the DNA test.

Shaggy knocked on the door, a man answered. "Can I help you?" He asked, Shaggy and Velma showed him their badges, "Maybe you can, I'm Detective Dinkley, this is my partner Detective Rogers and Scooby-Doo," Velma said, "We're hoping to speak to Heather Preston, is she here?"

"Why?" The man asked, "What's happened?"

"We're investigating the murder of Emma Henderson, from 1994." Velma said, "We know that Heather worked with Emma at Toyota from 1991 to 1994."

"Come in." The man said, "I'm Jason Preston, Heather's husband." He said, leading the gang into the living room where a young child was sat watching the TV.

"This is my granddaughter, Amelia." Jason said. "Jason, who was at the door?" A female voice asked, a woman came down the stairs.

"Heather." Jason said, she stepped into the living room, "Oh, who are you?" She asked. "I'm Detective Rogers, this is my partner Detective Dinkley. We're investigating the murder of Emma Henderson." Shaggy said.

"Oh." Heather said, "I haven't heard anything about Emma's case since 1995 when her ex-husband was sentenced." She said.

"We actually have some more information; we'd like to speak to you." Velma said.

"Amelia, shall we go to the park?" Jason asked, excitedly. "Yeah!" The girl exclaimed and jumped up to get her coat and her shoes.

After they left, Heather took Shaggy and Velma to the dining room and they sat at the table.

"I worked with Emma for three years." Heather said, "She was really nervous when she started, but she was really good at the job."

"Did Emma ever say anything about her relationship with Anthony Grayson?" Velma asked.

"She told me that she moved to Amherst from Long Island with her boyfriend, Anthony." Heather said, "She didn't really say what they got up to on their days off or in the evening, whereas the other women I worked with always talked about their out of office lives."

"What about the wedding?" Shaggy asked, Heather sighed, "She came into work one day and said that she and Anthony were getting married and she asked me to be one of the witnesses. Usually when colleagues are getting married, they invite each other to the service or the party, but Emma just asked me to be a witness." She started to look uneasy.  
"It was a little bit weird, it was only Emma, Anthony, me and one of his friends."

"Nobody else?" Velma asked, Heather shook her head. "They didn't have vows, flowers, a party, she wasn't even wearing a wedding dress. They literally just signed some papers and that was it."

"What happened after that?" Shaggy asked.

"They didn't have a honeymoon, but Emma didn't seem to change. She didn't seem like a happy newly married woman." Heather said. "It was between 1992 and 1993, what was ill for a few days, she didn't say what was wrong with her but, she said it was bad."

"What happened when she came back t'work?" Shaggy asked. "I noticed a bruise on her face, obviously she'd tried to cover it up, but sitting next to her all day I noticed it." Heather said, "She said she knocked something off the shelf home, and it hit her face. I didn't believe it. Then a few weeks later, she was 'ill' again, she had another fresh bruise when she came back." Heather said.

"Did she say anything?" Velma said, Heather nodded.

"I asked what happened, because I didn't believe that anything fell of the shelf to cause that bruise. She said that she and Anthony had been having some problems." Heather sighed, "She said he was angry and hit her."

Shaggy scribbled onto his notepad.

"What was he angry about?" Velma asked. "She didn't say." Heather said, "Then towards the end of 1993, she'd come into work with a few bruises, nobody else seemed to notice them, if they did, they kept it to themselves."

"Did she ever tell you what was going on at home?" Velma asked. "She told me that Anthony hit her, but she didn't say why or how badly." Heather said. "This went on for months, I kept telling her to call the police, but I…I don't know why I didn't call them myself." She said, wiping her eyes. "Maybe if I did, Emma would still be here."

Shaggy and Velma subtly exchanged looks.

"On January 14th, 1994, it was Emma's day off, she called me at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, she said she'd had enough of Anthony abusing her, so she called the police. I told her she did the right thing; Anthony was arrested, and she was taken to the police station for questioning." Heather said, "I picked her up, we met Jason at Pizza Hut and then I took Emma home."

"She was doing really well after that, she put Anthony's clothes in a bag and dropped them off at the police station the next day. I was disappointed when she told me she wasn't pressing charges; I think she should have. But she said she was getting a restraining order against him and filing for a divorce. She told me she didn't want to marry him the way she did, she told me she loved him, but she wanted a big wedding, she said she and her sister always talked about their dream wedding." Heather said.

"The divorce was final on January 23rd, 1994. She came back to work, there was mention of it in the papers but nothing big so nobody at work was really affected by it, they only apologised to Emma for what had happened." Heather said.

"Did Emma go on a date after the divorce?" Velma asked.

Heather sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair, "I told her it was too soon. She came into work one day, and she said that she was going on a date with some guy she'd met at McDonald's on her break the day before."

"John Gregory?" Shaggy asked.

"She told me his name was John, but she said he was so nice and lovely." Heather said.

"She met him at McDonald's?" Velma asked. "Yes, the day before she went for her break. It was clear she was enjoying her freedom from Anthony; she went to McDonald's for her lunch most days. When she came back to work, she seemed happy, I thought it was just because of her new-found freedom, but when she sat down, she said that she spoke to a really 'handsome guy'."

"She said she was meeting him at McDonald's again tomorrow afternoon. The next day when she came back from her break, she said she'd had her lunch with John, and they were going on a date the following night." Heather said.

"You never met John?" Shaggy asked.

"No." Heather said.

"And you reported Emma missing on February 1st?" Velma asked, Heather nodded.

"I went to work, the day after Emma's date, it was her day off. I called her to ask how the date had gone, she told me she'd ring me after the date, but she never did, I just assumed she was busy with John. She didn't answer her phone, and the next day she didn't come into work, she didn't call in sick like she did when she was with Anthony." Heather said.

"So, I called her again, and she still didn't answer, so I went to her house and it was unlocked. I went into the house and I immediately knew something was wrong, the living room was a mess. I called out for Emma; but she didn't answer. I don't know why, but I just knew not to touch anything. I went upstairs and looked around the house, nobody was there."

Heather sighed, taking a deep breath. "I raced down to the police station, told them what had happened over the last few days and I filed a missing person's report. Then everything about Emma and Anthony's relationship came out and was all over the news, the story dominated the news and hundreds of people went out looking for Emma. A few days later, the police announced that Emma died in the house."

Heather began crying, she wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry." She muttered, Shaggy took her hand, "It's ok to cry." He said, softly.

"Did you tell the police about John?" Velma asked, Heather nodded. "They acted as if John had nothing to do with it and focused on Anthony, naming him the 'jealous ex-husband'." Heather said.

* * *

"I have good news." Dr Bleu said, "I managed to extract some blood from the shirt, and I sent them off last night. The lab emailed me the results this morning."

Fred and Daphne watched the doctor as he picked up a sheet of paper from his desk.

"The two samples are a match." Dr Bleu said, "I am 100% positive that the body recovered is Emma Henderson." He said.

"And you believe she was stabbed to death?" Fred asked, the doctor nodded.

"Thank you, Doctor." Daphne said, the doctor bowed his head, "Just doing my job." He said.

"We'd better inform Maria." Daphne said, Fred nodded.

* * *

"So, the police didn't ask you about John?" Shaggy asked, Heather shook her head.

"They focussed on Anthony. I knew he was a bastard, what he did to Emma. But she told me that when the police arrived to arrest him, he didn't fight them, and he sighed the divorce papers, agreed to the restraining order and he left her alone." Heather said. "What everyone was saying about him, I think he was wrongly sentenced for Emma's murder."

"We'd like to share some information with you." Velma said, Heather locked eyes with her.

"We received some information that John Gregory killed Emma." Velma said, Heather didn't seem to react, she knew suspected John Gregory and always has.

"We have also found Emma's body." Velma said.

Heather's stomach dropped, the colour drained from her face and her eyes filled with tears, "I knew she was dead. It's been 25 years; I thought she'd never be found."

"She was buried on some land, which was sold by Peterson and Jackson Realtors to a couple who built a farm on the land." Velma said.

"She's been there for the last 25 years?" Heather asked, Velma nodded. Heather wiped her eyes and Shaggy squeezed her hand.

"What about John Gregory?" Heather asked. "Myself and one of our other partners spoke t'Anthony Grayson yesterday; he admitted t'the stuff that he did to Emma and he regrets doing it, but he told us that he did not kill Emma. We asked him if he knew John Gregory or anyone who had an interest in Emma, but he said he didn't." Shaggy said.

"We can't find anything about John Gregory." Velma said, "That's why we want to speak to you."

"I never met John." Heather said. "Did Emma describe him?" Shaggy asked.

"She said he was tall and had brown hair and green eyes." Heather said, "That was it."

Shaggy quickly wrote it down, "Did she say where he was from, was he from Amherst or somewhere else?"

"No, she didn't say anything about him. I hoped that I'd get to meet him after their date, Emma seemed to really like him." Heather said.

"Thank you for helping us, Heather." Shaggy said. "I hope you find John." Heather said, "Someone needs to pay for what happened to Emma."

* * *

"We called Maria, the body we found is definitely Emma's." Daphne said.

Velma was sat at her desk, typing away at her laptop.

"Heather Preston was helpful." Shaggy said, "She's probably like, one of the few people who believed that Anthony wasn't Emma's killer."

"What are you looking for?" Daphne asked, she sat on the couch next to Fred, who was tracing circles on her leg.

"John Gregory." Velma said. "We already searched him and found nothing." Fred said.

"Heather told us that Emma said he had brown hair and green eyes." Velma said, "Maybe this is the next step to finding him."

The office phone began ringing, Shaggy picked it up, "You've reached the Scooby-Doo detective agency, like, how can we help?"

Daphne and Fred laughed quietly to themselves about Shaggy answering the phone. "Woah, hold up dude, like I can't understand what you're sayin'." Shaggy said, the gang looked at him as he grabbed his notepad and pen, "Gotcha, we'll be there ASAP." He said, hanging up the phone.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"Guys, we gotta go!" Shaggy exclaimed, he jumped up and grabbed his jacket and his badge. "What?" Fred asked.

"The police just found a body."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Daphne's dad let the gang borrow his plane, it was quicker than driving to West Virginia in the van, but Daphne hated her dad's plane.

The local police station had arranged for the gang to be picked up at the airport, and they were taken to a small white house in the town of Harpers Ferry, it was getting dark when they got there.

Surrounding the house were police cars, an ambulance and a black coroners van. Some of the neighbours were looking out the window, and some stood on their doorsteps, but the gang noticed that nobody seemed to be comforting a young woman, who was clearly distraught, sitting on the front steps of the house.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here." A police officer said, quickly shaking Fred's hand. "What happened?" Fred asked. "The girl over there, Helena Jacobs." The officer said pointing to the woman on the steps, "Found her mother's body in the garden."

"Her mother's body?" Velma asked, the officer nodded, "Andrea Ellison disappeared 5 months ago, Helena thought she'd ran away with her boyfriend."

"Who was her boyfriend?" Shaggy asked. "Some guy named James Gregory." The officer said.

The gang exchanged looks. They thought about Fred's theory of John Gregory being an alias, maybe it was a coincidence that this guy had the same last name as the killer they were looking for, but maybe not.

Daphne carefully approached the woman on the steps; she had long blonde hair with hot pink highlights, she had a nose piercing and a tattoo of a dragon on her arm. She was shivering, but she slowly looked up when she saw Daphne approaching her.

"Helena?" Daphne asked, the woman nodded.

"I'm so sorry about your mom." Daphne said, as she sat down next to Helena, who burst into tears and collapsed into Daphne's arms.

"Y-you're the f-first p-person who s-said that all night!" Helena cried., Daphne wrapped her arms around Helena, she looked at the gang.

"My partners and I are here to find who killed your mom." Daphne said, "Can you tell me what her boyfriend, James Gregory, looked like?"

Helena wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara, "He was tall, muscular and charming. He has brown hair and green eyes."

Daphne looked to the gang; this might be the man they're looking for.

"Do you want to come to the station with us?" Daphne asked, Helena quickly nodded, "I don't want to stay here."

They stood up, Helena linked her arm into Daphne's, and they walked to the Mystery Machine. They followed the police car to the station.

* * *

"Helena, you filed a missing persons' report 5 months ago, back in February, when your mom disappeared?" Daphne asked, she sat at the table with Helena.

"Yes." Helena said, shaking.

"Can you tell me what happened, the day you filed the missing person's report?" Daphne asked, Helena nodded slowly.

Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby watched from the monitors in the room next door.

Helena wiped her eyes, "My parents divorced about five years ago, it was mutual. My dad got remarried last year, a week before mom disappeared, Dad and Janie went to New York City. They got back the day mom disappeared."

She sighed, wiping her eyes again, "When dad got back, I finished work early and I went to mom's house to get my laptop, she was just getting ready for her date."

"How long had your mom been with her boyfriend before she disappeared?" Daphne asked. "Two weeks, I thought he was an ok guy; the 3 of us went out for coffee together, we went out for breakfast together sometimes, and he seemed to genuinely like my mom." Helena said.

"So, on February 14th, which was Valentine's day, I was staying at Dad's house. He and Janie wanted to show me pictures of their trip to New York City and we ordered pizza." Helena said. "I stayed at their house for two nights, then I went back to mom's house. When I got there, the house was unlocked, mom should have been at work, she still had another 2 hours of her shift left."

"Did you think she was home?" Daphne asked.

"I thought that maybe she got off early, my stomach dropped before I stepped into the house, I just felt like something was wrong." Helena wiped her eyes, "The living room was a mess."

"The officer we spoke to at the scene said you thought she ran away James." Daphne said, Helena shook her head. "I didn't say that, I told him my mom disappeared after a date with her boyfriend."

"Ok. Was the furniture out of place?" Daphne asked, Helena nodded.

"Did you see any bloodstains?" Daphne asked, Helena shook her head.

"I called the police and I filed the missing person's report. My dad and I went out to look for her, and I called her work to ask if they'd seen her and they said she didn't show up." Helena said. "I suggested that we try looking for James, in case someone attacked them in the house, but I couldn't find him either. I didn't know his number, the police found mom's phone under the couch and they found James' number, but the phone had been disconnected."

"At the time, did you think that James could have been involved?" Daphne asked, Helena shrugged. "I don't know."

"You said James had green eyes and brown hair, but what else can you tell me about him?" Daphne asked.

"Like I said, he was tall, charming and muscular. His hair was short, but it was always gelled. I didn't know where he worked, he hadn't been in town that long when he met my mom." Helena said. "Do you know where he lived?" Daphne asked, Helena shook her head. "I know he lived in a small house, he said it was far too untidy for my mom and I to visit, but he didn't say where it was."

Daphne ran her hand through her hair, "Helena, what happened tonight?" She asked, the colour drained from Helena's face.

"My dad and Janie had re-decorated their garden back in May, I thought about mom's garden, she loved looking after the garden." Helena began, she let out a shaky break before she continued.

"I went to my mom's house; the grass was over-grown, and the plants were dying, some of them were already dead. I started pulling up the dead plants, they came out easily. Then I saw something, I pulled it. It was my mom's necklace."

Helena put her hand over her mouth, either to stop herself crying, or to make sure she didn't throw up all over the table, she quickly wiped her eyes, "I grabbed the shovel and I…I dug. I didn't bring up that much dirty, but I saw…I saw her hand…her hand was…"

Daphne grabbed Helena's hand as she burst into tears, "Can I go to the bathroom?" She asked. "Of course." Daphne replied.

Fred came and opened the door, there was a female police officer who took Helena to the bathroom.

Fred and Daphne held each other, "Andrea Ellison's body has been taken to the morgue, they're examining her now." He said, Daphne nodded. Fred kissed the top of her head.

"Detectives." An officer said, Fred and Daphne broke apart and looked at the officer. "We have a Mr Jacobs downstairs looking for his daughter Helena." He said.

"She's just in the bathroom." Daphne said. "But we'd like to speak to him." Fred said, the officer nodded, and he went back downstairs.

"Freddie, I think this guy James, could be the one we're looking for." Daphne said.

"You might be right." Fred said.

"Detectives." The female officer, and Helena, came out of the bathroom. "She needs some rest." The officer said, Daphne nodded. "Your father is downstairs." Fred said, Helena nodded, and the officer took her downstairs.

* * *

"Andrea Ellison was stabbed to death." The doctor said, pulling a white sheet over the body on the table. "Eight times, then she was buried."

"Are there any other injuries?" Daphne asked. "She has a broken arm, but after examination, I believe that happened after her death." The doctor said, "But she does have a small fracture to her skull, not enough to kill her or cause any brain damage thought."

"Helena said that the furniture in the living room was out of place." Daphne said. "She could have fallen whilst the was trying to get away, or she was pushed." The doctor said. "But there are no other injuries, apart from these."

"Like, you said she was stabbed t'death, but the police didn't find a weapon at the scene." Shaggy said, "What knife do you think the killer could have used?" Shaggy asked.

"A big knife, I'd say a kitchen knife, but I've looked over the police report and it seems that all the kitchen utensils are still in the house." The doctor said.

"So, like, the killer arrived at the house with a knife, and left with the knife?" Shaggy asked. "Seems like it." Fred said.

"Andrea Ellison and James Gregory never arrived at the restaurant for their date." Daphne said, "So, James told Andrea he'd pick her up, when he arrived at the house, he killed her and buried her."

"Then he left town." Fred said.

"Helena said that James lived in a small house in the town, she didn't know where it was." Daphne said.

"Ok, let's get back to the Mystery Ma- oh." Fred said, remembering the van was back in New York.

Velma pulled her laptop out of her bag, "Let's find out where this house it."

"Thank you for your time doctor." Daphne said, as the gang left the room.

They sat on the benches in the corridor and began their search.

"There are several small houses in this town." Velma said, "But, the majority of them are near the lake."

"So, we just need t'find out who moved out of any of these houses from like, five months ago." Shaggy said. "Agreed." Velma said.

She continued typing but brought up nothing.

"Hmmm…I might have an idea." She said, and she continued typing. "What are you doing?" Fred asked. "Hacking into the realtor's data base." Velma said, "Maybe I can find a name for whoever lived in that house."

Velma's phone began to ring. "Here." She said, giving the laptop to Shaggy, she stepped down the corridor to take the call.

"Like, let's see." Shaggy said, looking at the screen, Fred rolled his eyes; Shaggy wasn't exactly up to date on technology, he just about knew how to work a laptop.

"How do I find the dates?" He asked. "Give it here." Daphne said, taking the laptop. "Here, see where the filter is." She said, Shaggy squinted at the screen, "Maybe you need glasses, Shagster." Fred joked.

"Andrea Ellison was killed in on February 14th this year, Helena said that Andrea and James Gregory had been together for 2 weeks, because James hadn't been in town that long before she disappeared." Daphne said.

"These are the houses that were sold in January this year." Daphne said, it wasn't a long list because it was only a small town. "These three are the bungalows by the lake, only one was sold in January; the guys name was-"

"Guys!" Velma exclaimed. "What?" Fred asked.

"That was the officer we met at the scene; a man matching James Gregory's description just handed himself in." Velma said.

"What?" Shaggy asked.

"Well, the guy who brought this bungalow was a J. Gregory." Daphne said.

"Gang, this is our guy." Fred said.

* * *

The gang arrived at the police station; the officer greeted them.

"He's upstairs in the interrogation room." He said.

"What happened?" Fred asked.

"He just walked in, told Amanda at the desk that he's the man who killed the woman, he said 'I put her body in the garden'." The officer said.

"Are there any detectives up there now?" Fred asked, the officer shook his head, "Just a couple of officers guarding him."

"I think Shaggy should speak to him; criminal behaviour is your specialty." Fred said, Shaggy nodded. "I'll go with him." Daphne said. "No, I will." Fred said, "He's a dangerous man, we know what he's like around women, I don't want you two sitting that close to him."

"Fine." Daphne said, "Velma and I will watch from the screen room."

The gang went upstairs, Velma and Daphne went into the screen room with the police officer, and Fred and Shaggy went into the interrogation room.

John Gregory, or James Gregory whatever his name was; looked exactly how the gang thought he'd look.

He was tall and muscular with green eyes and dark hair, like Helena Jacobs and Heather Preston described, and he looked to be in his late 40's.

But he showed no emotion when the detectives walked in. He was handcuffed to the table, but he didn't seem to care.

He slowed looked up at Fred and Shaggy as they sat at the table opposite him, "Hello detectives." He said, with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I suppose you're here to ask me about the lady?" He asked, then he suddenly looked confused, "Oh god, I can't even remember her name."

Fred and Shaggy remained silent, staring at him. Shaggy studied his face.

"She was a nice lady, though she cried a lot when she was dying." He said.

Daphne and Velma exchanged uneasy looks, "Scumbag." The police officer muttered.

"Let's start with your name." Shaggy said, "Is it James or John?"

The man laughed, "It's actually Daniel, Daniel Anderson." He said, "I'd shake your hand but, I'm kind of…cuffed." He smiled.

Velma grabbed her laptop and began to search for Daniel Anderson on the police data base.

"The woman's name was Andrea Ellison." Shaggy said, "But we're also here about Emma Henderson."

"Who?" Daniel asked.

"You killed her 25-years-ago and buried her body in a field." Fred said. "Did she have dark hair, and beautiful eyes?" Daniel asked, "Oh, that might have been the other one."

Fred and Shaggy exchanged looked up at the TV screen from her laptop, and the police officer leaned into the TV screen, turning the volume up a little bit.

"What other one?" Fred asked.

"Well, there was the one in Charlottesville, the one in Kansas City, the one in- oh I know who you mean!" Daniel exclaimed with an evil smile, "Just divorced her husband?"

"How many women have you killed?" Shaggy asked.

Daniel sat back in his chair and looked around the room, as if he was thinking. "About 30." He said, "All heartbroken women and all fun to kill!"

"Oh my god." Daphne muttered.

"Daphne, officer. I found something about Daniel Anderson." Velma said. Daphne and the police officer looked at Velma.

"When he was seven, his parents and her sister died in a house fire, Daniel was the only survivor. The police said the fire was started from inside the house." Velma said.

"Why did you kill 'heartbroken' women?" Shaggy asked.

"You just answered your own question there." Daniel said. "They were looking for a shoulder to cry on, a rebound, so I took my chance. Though some of them were just single and lonely."

"You admit to killing all these women?" Fred asked.

"Yes detective, I do." Daniel said.

Daniel was charged with several counts of first-degree murder, and Velma informed Fred and Shaggy about his childhood.

"So, this guy like, started killing people when he was just a kid?" Shaggy asked.

"Yes." Velma said.

"So, like what do we do now?" Shaggy asked.

"Continue to interrogate him." The officer said, "Find out where he buried the other women, and why he killed his family."

"He said he killed a woman in Charlottesville and Kansas City." Fred said, "We find out where he killed the other women, then we contact police in those towns and cities and have them go through missing people's files. It's going to be a long procedure, but hopefully the women will be found."

"I think we should get a specialist, y'know." The officer said, the gang agreed that it would take someone with much more experience with criminals like Daniel Anderson.

"Like, I know someone who might be able t'help." Shaggy said, "Remember Palo from college?"

"Palo, the one who tried to sell me weed?" Velma asked, Shaggy nodded. "He was a detective, but he was studying criminal psychology. Maybe he can help us."

"Good idea, Shaggy." Fred said.

"Well, I'll start contacting major crime units, let them know what we've discovered." The officer said, "Thank you guys for the help."

He shook their hands before he went to his office to make phone calls, and Shaggy stepped down outside to contact his friend Palo.

* * *

Palo came down to West Virginia to speak to Daniel Anderson and the gang returned to Buffalo.

Major crime units throughout the country were informed of what Daniel Anderson had done in the last few years and they had searched through missing people's files in the country; specifically, divorced women.

Major crime had taken over the investigation and were also reinvestigating the deaths of Daniel Anderson's family. Helena and her father were also researching this history of Daniel Anderson, a.k.a, J. Gregory.

After hours of interrogation, Palo discovered that Daniel Anderson had killed 32 women; at least 3 of them in one state, the information was given to Major crimes; they were going to have a lot of work to do.

* * *

A café about a 5-minute walk from the gang's office. Daphne sat at the table by the window, Fred and the others were at the office.

Nearly a year ago, Daphne's parents had gotten a divorce after her father admitted to having an affair and a few months ago, Mr Blake admitted that he had another daughter, Sara.

-SIX MONTHS AGO-

_Daphne stood in the elevator, going up to her dad's office, Fred was waiting outside in the Mystery Machine._

_Two hours ago, Daphne received a call from her sister Thalia, she said she'd found a photograph of a baby in her father's desk draw whilst she was getting something for her mother._

_Thalia's words played over in her head, "This baby doesn't look like either of us, Daphne. Mom has our baby pictures all over the house."_

_She pushed open the door to her dad's office, her dad and her sister, Thalia were waiting for her. Thalia was 7 months pregnant, Daphne realised that all this stress might be too much for her and reminded herself not to make it worse for Thalia._

_"__I was starting to think you weren't coming." Thalia said, looking stressed as she rubbed her swollen belly._

_"__What's this about?" Daphne asked, staring at her dad, and then at the other woman who stood in the office. "Who's she?"_

_"__Daphne. This is Sara, your sister." Mr Blake said._

_"__Half-sister." Daphne said._

_"__Sara, this is Daphne." Mr Blake said, ignoring Daphne's comment. _

_Sara was tall with long curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She didn't say anything when Mr Blake introduced her to Daphne and the heavily pregnant Thalia._

_"__Why are we just finding out about you now?" Daphne asked, Thalia sat on the couch._

_"__You'll have to ask him that." Sara said, "I didn't know about you until I found him, I've been looking for him for years."_

_"__Why didn't you tell us anything?" Thalia asked her father._

_"__I was stupid." Mr Blake said.__"__Obviously." Thalia said. _

_"You cheated on mom when she was pregnant," Daphne said, "But you didn't say anything about another daughter."_

_"__Daphne I-" Mr Blake began. "No, don't make excuses, dad." Daphne spat, "You raised us to own our mistakes, not brush them under the rug and pretend they don't exist."_

_"__Mistake?" Sara asked. "Look, I know you guys don't want to know me, but I think you should know that your dear old dad is not who you thought it was."_

_"__Ok, well, it was nice meeting you, but I'm going home to my children." Thalia said, slowly climbing up from the couch and waddled towards the door. "I don't want anything to do with either of you."_

_She stopped as she passed Daphne, "And if you're smart, neither will you."_

_"__Thalia!" Mr Blake called after her._

_Daphne made to leave the office, "Daphne." Her dad said, she stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. She didn't know what to say, she couldn't find her words, so she left._

_On her way to the elevator, she looked back to the office, Sara was walking down the corridor but made a beeline for the stairs, avoiding Daphne._

_Then she saw her father standing in the doorway, she looked away from him and the elevator doors opened, she stepped inside and pressed 'LOBBY'._

_She cried on the way down, and the whole journey home._

-PRESENT DAY-

It had been 6 months, but Daphne recognised her sister when she walked into the café, and Sara recognised Daphne, she sat at the table with her.

"Thank you for meeting me." Daphne said.

"It took me hours to get here, why did you call me?" Sara asked.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted, last time I saw you." Daphne said. "I didn't mean to say what I said."

"I know you and Thalia were mad at dad, I understand." Sara said.

"Thalia was 7 months pregnant when we met you, she has two other children she was stressed, but I was angry, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Daphne said.

"It's ok, I'm angry at him too." Sara said. "You said dad wasn't who we thought he was, is that because of his affair and keeping you a secret or something else, because I feel like he's hiding something." Daphne said.

"My mom died a few hours after I was born." Sara said, "I didn't know how, until I was 10, and I found out she left me at the hospital, and she... she killed herself. After everything that happened whilst she was pregnant, she couldn't live with it."

Daphne's heart stopped, "I'm sorry."

"So, why did you want to meet me?" Sara asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm getting married." Daphne said, "I want you to come to my wedding."

"Wow, really?" Sara asked, her eyes widening, Daphne nodded, "You're my sister."

"I'd love that, Daphne. I'll be there." Sara said, smiling widely.

"Thank you." Daphne said.

Sara reached across the table, she squeezed Daphne's hand. "I want to get to know you and Thalia, I always have since I met you." Sara said. "I'd like that, Sara" Daphne said.

"So tell me, what do you do for a living?" Sara asked.

"I'm a detective, my partners and I have an office not far from here." Daphne said, "What about you, what do you do?"

There was a pause, "I'm unemployed. I quit my job when I went looking for my dad. I haven't had a job in a few years, but I worked a couple of shifts in diners and bars when I stopped for a few days." Sara said.

There was something that Daphne noticed, and not just from being a detective, but growing up with an older, stubborner sister, Daphne could tell when someone was lying.

Sara was hiding something.

THE END


End file.
